


Bitter Bean Water and Hot Leaf Juice

by aistifcisi



Series: Dancing Dragon [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Communication, Family Bonding, Fluff, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Iroh (Avatar) Redemption, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Iroh (Avatar) loves Tea, Minor Character Death, One Shot, Sun Warrior Zuko, Sun Warriors Adopt Zuko, that needs to be a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25944076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aistifcisi/pseuds/aistifcisi
Summary: Iroh bonds with Zuko and has a (somewhat) healthy conversation with Ham Ghao.(Side story of the main fic "Zuko of the Sun Warriors", which can be found from the Dancing Dragon series. Takes place right after Chapter 4, meaning Zuko is about eleven and Iroh has just recently visited the masters Ran and Shaw.)
Relationships: Ham Ghao & Zuko, Iroh & Ham Ghao, Iroh & Piandao (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Dancing Dragon [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1879492
Comments: 10
Kudos: 104





	Bitter Bean Water and Hot Leaf Juice

Iroh’s eyes snapped open as he was very suddenly pulled away from his deep sleep. He immediately stood up from his bedroll, his back straight, and he thought he let out a loud gasp, too. It took a moment for him to realize exactly what had happened, but he understood when he felt the heaviness of his clothes and his hair sticking to his face. What he could see with his eyes and feel on his skin was confirmed by what he heard as well, as Piandao sprang up as suddenly as he had with a shriek, soaking wet.

“Rise and shine!” somebody, _a Sun Warrior_ (Iroh was still in a hazy shock that they were actually alive), cheerily greeted, a grin on their face and a now empty water bucket in their left hand as their right one stood on their hip.

“Good morning,” he said back uncertainly, “um- Atlee, was it?” he asked in what he hoped to be a friendly manner.

“It’s Ohtli!” the warrior huffed out with hard eyes, mood dampened and clearly displeased. 

“Oh- right, of course! And what a truly beautiful name it is!” he spoke quickly, not wanting to annoy them any further. Piandao groaned as he plopped back down on his bedroll.

“Couldn’t you have woken us any other way? What, did we sleep in or something?” he asked with mild sarcasm tainting his words.

“No and yes respectively,” Ohtli answered smoothly as they turned around to leave the tent. Iroh shared a quick look with his friend, before they both begrudgingly got up to get ready. When they opened their tent flap, Piandao released an indignant squawk.

“’Slept in’, they say! The sun’s barely risen, _how_ could we have slept in?” he grumbled out and Iroh very much thought the same as his friend.

“Don’t you know?” they heard someone speak then, and when they searched for its source, they found Ham Ghao, looking down on them from the branch of a tree near their tent. “Firebenders rise with the sun,” he stated as he dropped down nimbly and with grace, keeping eye contact with Iroh through it all. “Oh, who am I kidding?” he said mockingly. “Of course you don’t know, being traitors and all,” he jeered as he walked away, before stopping and looking back, this time to glare at Piandao. “And before _you_ get any ideas, no, it wasn’t unreasonable to wake you up as well. _All_ Sun Warriors rise with Agni, no matter their bending abilities or lack thereof,” he explained as he fully turned around to face them. “Considering our masters have allowed you to stay here as _honored guests_ ,” he spit out with vitriol, “it only makes sense that you follow our customs, wouldn’t you agree?” he shrugged with a smug grin before once again turning his back on them to leave.

“Obnoxious jerk!” Piandao let out when Ham Ghao was out of earshot.

“He definitely is condescending,” Iroh readily agreed, “but we must not forget why he acts like this. You remember what the chief told us. The Sun Warriors have experienced many injustices at the hands of the Fire Nation. Fire Lord Sozin alone erased thousands of years of their existence during his rule! It only makes sense that they do not trust us,” he reminded both his friend and himself. “And besides, it is so much more personal for him, specifically,” he added, which made Piandao sigh.

“I know. You’re right. Even still though, they don’t have to be so rude, either. That kid, uh your- _nephew_ ,” he hastily corrected, “he is understanding towards us,” he argued.

“Zuko is just a child,” Iroh countered, “he cannot grasp the true gravity of all that has happened yet, even if he hasn’t been kept ignorant of anything.” Just then, as if he were summoned, said child called out to them.

“Iroh! Piandao!” he yelled as he ran towards them. _Just_ “Iroh”, his nephew said... He tried not to feel too disappointed at that. _‘We’ve only known one another for a day,’_ he reasoned with himself. “Hi, good morning!” Zuko easily greeted.

“Well hello to you too, Zuko,” Iroh responded. “What are you doing out here?” he couldn’t help but ask. The boy made a face.

“Uh- _you’re_ the one who wanted us to get to know each other. I could just leave if you’ve changed your mind,” he said, misunderstanding what Iroh had meant, as his words, though sounding offended, were truly genuine. _“Firebenders rise with the sun,”_ he internally repeated what Ham Ghao had told them moments before. Right. Of course Zuko would be awake as well.

“No, no, you misconstrue. I would like nothing more than to spend time with you,” he quickly clarified.

“Oh yeah? Than what _did_ you mean exactly?” his nephew asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Uhh, nothing! I still haven’t woken up completely, it would seem. I just haven’t fully come to myself yet,” he lied, not wanting to admit how disconnected he really was from the old ways. His nephew nodded in understanding.

“Couldn’t sleep very well, huh?” he asked in sympathy. 

“Unfortunately.” 

“Sorry to hear that,” he said as he looked away. “So, what do you want to do? Did you have anything in mind, or...” he asked, somewhat awkwardly. Iroh thought it was oddly charming.

“Well, I was hoping that we could maybe have a cup of morning tea together.” Zuko, to Iroh’s horror, tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“Tea?” No, this couldn’t be... _The Sun Warriors didn’t drink tea?!_ But how could they even live like that? How could anybody live a life without tea?

“Yes, tea...! You know, the drink made from boiling water and plant leaves? Of course, it’s much more complicated than _that_ , but...” he shook his head to stop himself from accidentally going on a tangent. He realized then that Zuko’s face had morphed into one of disbelief and mild disgust.

“Wait, that’s what tea is? But that’s just meant to be medicinal drinks! Why would you ever actually _want_ to drink that?!” Oh, so they _did_ have tea, or at least a drink that was similar to tea. That was something, he supposed. Even still, how could his own nephew _not_ like tea?

“Well if not tea, then what do you usually drink in the mornings?” he asked, trying his hardest to keep his nerves. 

“Oh, xocolatl!” Zuko told him with a grin.

“Xocolatl?” Iroh asked this time.

“Yeah, it’s a traditional drink of the Sun Warriors. You wouldn’t know,” he said casually. Iroh got an idea then.

“Okay then, how about we compromise? I prepare you a delicious cup of tea the way it is done in the Fire Nation, and you make xocolatl for me,” he proposed. His nephew adopted an expression of curiosity.

“Okay, sure! Let’s do that.” And so, Iroh was led away to a clearing, where the rest of the warriors seemed to be having breakfast, by small arms, Piandao getting left behind. Zuko made him sit next to a tree, before running off and then coming back with a bag of utensils and ingredients. As they each began making their respective cultures’ drinks, they didn’t neglect to make small talk with each other.

“So, what exactly is the main ingredient of xocolatl?” Iroh asked as he began boiling his water.

“Cocoa beans! But green peppers are also used for flavouring,” Zuko replied cheerfully before noticing his questioning look. “Oh, I guess you guys don’t have cocoa beans either, huh,” he realized as he started a fire under his own kettle (using his own fire, and by spirits, Iroh was still left breathless by _the colours_ ).

“No, we do not. I am assuming that it is a type of plant?” he inquired as he lowered his fires somewhat, for the water seemed to have risen to the perfect temperature.

“Well, sort of, it’s the plant’s _seed_ actually,” Zuko explained. 

They continued on like that and soon enough, the tea was done and the xocolatl seemed to be finished as well, for Zuko took his kettle and poured the brownish liquid into a cup. But then, he didn’t hand the drink to Iroh.

“I assume you are done, too?” he asked of his nephew.

“Oh, I am, but it’s tastier if it’s cold, trust me,” he answered and Iroh nodded his understanding.

“Very well. In the mean time, here is your tea,” he told with a smile. Zuko took his cup and sniffed the drink experimentally, before taking a sip... and then pulling the cup away from his mouth with a grimace.

“Blah! Yep, tastes just like medicine,” he complained, and, no, this just wouldn’t do.

“You hurt me Zuko. How could a member of my own family...!”

“But it’s just hot leaf juice, Uncle Iroh!” Any and all coherent thought was lost to Iroh then, because had Zuko just... yes, yes he had! A happiness he had presumed to be at rest under that tree, right alongside Lu Ten, returned to Iroh with his nephew’s words. He couldn’t even argue against the insult to his favourite drink, he was that overjoyed. “Your drink’s done, by the way,” Zuko casually added, seemingly ignorant of the bliss that had taken over Iroh. He faintly grabbed the cup from the child and made to drink the liquid inside- before promptly gagging at the taste.

“Well this is just bitter bean water!” he let out as he quickly put the offensive drink down. He didn’t back down even at his nephew’s pout, but then somebody spoke and that had Zuko perking up instantly.

“You're right, it is just that.” 

“Uncle Ham Ghao!” the child excitedly greeted, and the man smiled at him as he, too, sat down. Oh spirits help him.

“’Xocolatl’ means bitter water,” he apathetically told him, sensing Iroh’s confusion.

“Oh, well, that _does_ indeed make sense-”

“Zuko,” the man interrupted Iroh’s ramblings, “why don’t you go and play with Cozamalotl for a bit. She’s a little restless this morning.”

“Okay!” said boy happily agreed. “See you later then, Uncle Iroh!” he stated as he got up and ran from the scene. _‘Is Zuko seriously this oblivious, or is he doing this all on purpose?’_ he couldn’t help but wonder then. 

An unbearably tense mood set in as Iroh avoided the other man’s eyes. The silence practically ate away at him as it just stretched on and on, almost as if it were unbreakable-

“I’m not jealous of you, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Ham Ghao finally, _finally_ spoke. At Iroh’s unconvinced and questioning glance, he scoffed. “Oh, don’t flatter yourself. I’m not an insecure person, especially not when it comes to my relationships with my family. I saved that kid from La myself, I won’t feel threatened simply by the presence of a second uncle figure. In fact, the more the merrier, I’d say!” He paused to ever so slightly lean over. “But that’s kind of the problem, too, isn’t it,” he said with a scowl. “Tell me, _Fire Prince_ Iroh, why is it that you want to bond with Zuko so much?”

Iroh would have refused, the wounds were too fresh and his grief still ever present as it stabbed his heart over and over, but he very much knew he couldn’t. Not to Ham Ghao, not when he was the man to have witnessed it all, to have heard his brother’s deadly presumption and Ursa’s surely horrifying screams. This was the person who had been forced to watch attempted infanticide play out in front of him. This was the warrior that Iroh truly needed to earn the trust of. So, even with his vision rapidly blurring, he answered anyways.

“In the Fire Nation, we are taught of the war as our way of sharing our supposed greatness with the world. For so long, I had been fortunate enough that I never had to bother to question. It is my worst regret in life; that I only ever thought for myself when _I_ lost everything, when I had already taken from so many. That I only ever realized my guilt when I watched my son crushed by boulders, when I had already _burned_ the children of others. I brought suffering to myself, but I have now decided to make it my teacher. I came for your masters because my Lu Ten had left me empty, however, I learned from them because I have someone new to fight for now. I failed one child, I refuse to fail another...” He didn’t bother wiping away his tears, nor did he care for his quivering voice, as he desperately tried explaining himself to the other, poking at his pain again and again. 

Ham Ghao didn’t say anything and dread took over Iroh. He didn’t say anything as he reached over to the tea kettle to pour a cup, either. He handed it over to Iroh. Hope replaced dread. He still didn’t say anything, not for a long while (or maybe for just a few minutes, Iroh couldn’t tell). 

“I can’t believe I’m actually doing this...” he grumbled out at last, before looking straight at him. “Fine! I’ll give you a chance, Iroh,” he said and relief flooded every part of his body as he allowed himself to wipe his tears away. As he brought his tea to his lips, he swore he saw Ham Ghao giving him a small and yet somewhat genuine smile.

The next morning, he woke right alongside Agni for his new beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> Wassup? Let me just say for those of you coming from the main fic, I have completely outlined chapter nine as of the time I am writing this, but for now, have this one shot.
> 
> When I looked up Mexican tea culture, I found that both in the past and in this day and age, herbal teas and similar infusions are traditionally consumed for medical benefits. I found similar information when I searched for tea in Aztec culture, with Damiana leaves in particular being used by them for, again, medical purposes. The only other thing that came up during my research was xocolatl and, uh, yeah. So, that's the explanation for what Zuko told Iroh.


End file.
